Rumors suggest that the San Francisco 49ers might replace Colin Kaepernick with the New York Jets' Geno Smith as the backup quarterback for Blaine Gabbert. If this happen, it will be because of Kaepernick's performance, and not his political views and protests.
During the offseason, Kaepernick was named by the 49ers as the No. 2 quarterback to Gabbert. Aside from getting demoted, Kaepernick also made headlines in August by refusing to stand up for the national anthem at preseason games.
According to the athlete, he was protesting against the violent acts committed on African Americans and other minority groups in the U.S.
Although this drew the ire of various league executives, who called Kaepernick a traitor, it doesn't put much pressure on the San Francisco organization to remove him from the lineup because as the team stated, it is very open to the athlete's views.
But, even if the 49ers accept Kaepernick's actions, he could still get kicked off the team because of his performance.
As stated by NFL insider Jay Glazer, the reason why Kaepernick was moved to the No. 2 spot was because he struggled during practices.
"Regardless of politics or not, he has a very, very big uphill battle to make this team," he said. "I'd be shocked if he's on the 49ers by the time this season ends. It has nothing to do with political views whatsoever."
"He lost a ton of weight this offseason, had three surgeries, couldn't work out, lost that double threat size-speed ratio," he added. "No political views, he just hasn't been effective. He's regressing as a player. I'd be shocked if he's on this roster by the end of this year. He may not be on it in the next two weeks."
Glazer's statements really paint a very bleak picture for Kaepernick. But, this ight become a reality especially since Gabbert is improving as the team's starting quarterback.
If Kaepernick still fails to convince the team that he's in football condition, he might get cut from the roster. They could then get Smith from the Jets to replace him as a backup quarterback.
Either through a trade involving Kaepernick or a couple of draft picks, Jets will most likely agree to giving away Smith since their quarterback bench is pretty deep with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty.
